The Dickinson press., 1887-04-23
AT AN ARMY POST.
A YOUNG LADYs EXPERIENCE ON
THE MEXICAN FRONTIER.

Life Among the Picturesque Greasers.
A Couple of Remarkable Border
Townsville Downtrodden and Contem.
plative Burro-Dancing al a Fort.
When l first came down here, from long
and bitter experience, l flew to shut tho acct
dcntally left open door, and somehow the
chair nearest the fireplace generally managed
to enfold me. But when no unpleasant
drauSlt greeted my astonished self, and my
face grew uncomfortably warm in my cor
ner, it slowly dawned upon me that Texas
was not lllinois-a fact I had never wasted
much brain power in contemplating before
ana when fresh Strawberries, pineapples and
vegetables appeared on the daintily laid table
Oh my charming hostess, l felt that the world
was no longer hollow or my doll stuffed with
sawdust.
expected to find many strange n curl
Gus things here, but verify the half had not
been told. The streets are full of Mexicans
dressed Ill their picturesque fashion, with
their bright colored serapes flung jauntily
over their shoulders and their broad brimmed
hats covered with silver tinsel aud no end Of
cord and tassel. But the picturesqueness is
confined to the men. For the women wear
sombcr hued shawls drawn over their heads
and covering the lower parts Of their faces.
l do not know why they take such prccau-
tons. for, as half Of them nave had smallpox,
their lcauty is notof the startling or dazzling
order. They generally crouch in doorways
or down i'll the very dust of the street when
they arc at home i'll their own town of Paso
del Nortc, but they bring their primitive
manners and customs with them when they
cross the river into the United States.
The hands and feet OF even the commonest
Mexican are remarkably small, and such
marvelously high heels as they wear! Itgives
them simply no gait at all. Mexican man
cannot walk, anyway. He shuflcs his feet
along and bends his knee at every step, until
if You watch him long, so loosely jointed and
Timber does he appear, you find yourself
wondering if his knees Won't bend backward
with equal facility, and if his elbow is not n
ball and socket joint.
LIFE AMONG II GREAsERs.
L was surprised todiscover what n low posi-
tion the Mexican holds socially. l am told
that Il negro who marries q Mexican woman
immediately loses caste among his follows,
and is lcnceforth ostracized.
The long bridge across the wandering,
capriciols and strictly feminine Rio. Grande
connects two remarkable towns. Once or the
other side, You seem to have stepped back
into the past a century or two. You find
adobe houses, surrounded by mud walls, in
stead of fences, and these walls surmounted
by hundreds of cactus plants i'll lieu of our
moro modern if less effective barb wire.
1T is no uncommon sight to SEQ a two
wheeled cart with each wheel hewn out of a
solid log. Their fuel is chiefly mesquite, the
wide spreading roots of a low, stunted tree,
MD 1lr,, ,1l. D", 1a,ko , k-.
they strike water. instead of lowering n
bucket for it, they make an inclined plane
with steps in it, so that they can walk COM
fortably dow into the we'll, fill their bucket
and climb out again, so it has been wittily
said that Mexico is n country where they dig
for wood and climb for water.
The natives always use burros for carrying
this mesquite, and they trudge behind on
foot. There is something very pathetic
about tho four footed inhabitants of Mexico.
Thc sighto of tho pleading look in the eyes of
n hurro nearly makes ne weep. He always
looks so dowlsroddcn, so meek, so contcm-
plative. Their ponies excite equal sympathy.
They wear their heads low-very low-and
they always have burrs in their tails. To nc
there is something appealing about n horse
with burrs in his tail, because l cannot i'm
aginc Il high spirited horse, one who had an
atom of family pride or self respect, having
them there.
OF course thus far / have only referred to
the lower class of Mexicans. The aristocracy
arc very different. They pay more attention
to rank and caste than we do, and have ex-
quisite manners y man may be n perfect
brute at home-he MAJ even beat his wife
but i'll public his manners with both men and
women would put Lord Chesterfield to tile
blush.
DANCING AT A FORT.